Can I get a little Gopro 3 to Fatshark connection help?

[linter]

I bought a cable from gothelirc to connect my gopro 3 silver ed to my fatshark, but being completely new to all this, i have no idea what goes where and so on. below are pictures.

i was hoping to be able to remove the five-wire connector from the tx and connect the gopro cable up in its place but i don't think i can do that. the tx connection sequence is audr, audl, vid in, gnd, 5v out and the go pro cable is set up as video, aud, gnd or gnd, aud, vid, depending on which side you put up, but it'd need to be arranged as aud, vid, gnd for it to work here, am i right?

so, if i am right, what am i supposed to do, cut off the connector on the gopro cable and attach the wires in the proper sequence to the wires now coming out of the TX? and, if that's right, should i twirl together audl and audr wires when i connect it to the aud wire on the gopro cable?

or is this not even the right go-pro cable for what i'm trying to do? with me at the helm, it's quite possible!

and what the heck is that separate 5v/gnd connector for?

View attachment 9407 View attachment 9408

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thanks!

 

[WillM]

Yes, as you said, you need to cut off the 3-pin servo connector from the GoPro cable and splice the corresponding video, audio, and ground wires together. Whether you connect the GoPro audio cable to the left, right, or both input pins (or none at all), on the receiver is up to you - you can certainly do any of those configurations. If at some point you move to an OSD (on screen display) system, then you will have to use one or both of those audio inputs on the receiver for the OSD data, and that configuration depends on the manufacturer of the OSD (ImmersionRC uses the left audio channel for data, I believe).

The 2nd servo connector on the GoPro cable is to power the GoPro through the USB port. That way, you could fly without the internal GoPro battery (not recommended) or use the internal GoPro battery as backup. Note that the GoPro cannot accept more than +5v, which just happens to be the output of the transmitter.

GoPro Inputs:
3-pin cable, white = Video --> Connect to Transmitter input, yellow, "VID IN"
3-pin cable, red = Audio --> Connect to Transmitter input, white "AUD L", and/or green "AUD R"
3-pin cable, black = Ground --> Connect to Transmitter common ground, black, "GND"
2-pin cable, red = Power input (+5 volts) --> Connects to Transmitter Power Output, red, "+5v Out"
2-pin cable, black = Ground --> Either leave disconnected or splice into the other black wires

Only connect this one:
2-pin cable, red = Power input (+5 volts) --> Connects to Transmitter Power Output, red, "+5v Out"
If you want the GoPro to get its power from the transmitter.

See how the wires are nice and neat? That is how you want them to be when you are done. Clean cuts, no frayed wires, soldered well, and protected by heat shrink. Your video quality will depend on it!

Good luck,

Will

 

[linter]

thanks, will, that's an incredibly helpful and complete response. one question: is it *not* recommended that I use the gopro's battery or not rec. that i use the 5vlt lead?

again, i really appreciate your assistance!

edit: here's a picture of the done deal. found a vid on youtube showing how to remove wires from connector without cutting them. easy as pie. everything look ok to you?

View attachment 9417

btw/ now that i look at it, it seems the only way i could use the gopro-to-FS 5v pin is to get rid of the audio and make the wires video/ground/5v (or get a connector like the original one), removing the 5v wire from the two-wire gopro cable to do so. right?

 

[WillM]

Glad you found it helpful.

Personally, I would not remove the battery from the GoPro, and that's what I meant when I said 'not recommended', as in, 'don't remove the internal GoPro battery'. I would just use the GoPro internal battery and forget about the power output on the transmitter.

Your wiring method should work, but make sure the connector is in there securely. Multirotors can vibrate quite a bit - you don't want the video cable falling out while you are flying FPV! If it were me, I would use the correct connector for the transmitter, which means cutting and splicing the wires. It may work, just be careful.

 

[linter]

more good advice. thanks!

 

[ChrisViperM]

If you need longer battery live while flying, just get one of these (if you have the space on your rig):

http://www.dogcamsport.co.uk/gopro-3-battery-bacpac.html

Chris